Apparatus for providing long, soft vegetable fibers



April 18, 1961 M. J. REIDER 2,979,781

APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING LONG, SOFT VEGETABLE FIBERS Original Filed April28, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Q

\ MALCOLM J. REIDER ATTORNEYS April 18, 1961 RElDER 2,979,781

APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING LONG, SOFT VEGETABLE FIBERS Original Filed April28, 1954 2 sheets sheet 2 A- A 1; W O Jul-I'll!- Q w co (B IO INVENTOR.MALCOLM J. REIDER ATTORNEYS United States Patent fifiiice Pam... 18,1961

APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING LONG, SOFI VEGETABLE FIBERS Malcolm J. Reider,Reading, Pa., assignor to Geo. W. Bollman & Co., Inc., Adamstown, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Original application Apr. 28, 1954, Ser. No.426,255,

now Patent No. 2,925,626, dated Feb. 23, 1960. Divided and thisapplication July 27, 1959, Ser. No. 829,640

6 Claims. (Cl. 19-7) This invention relates to apparatus for providinglong, soft vegetable fibers. More specifically, this invention relatesto apparatus for isolating desirablelong, soft vegetable fibers fromundesirable plant tissues. The invention is applicable to kenaf, ramie,jute and their close botanical relatives.

Numerous processes have been devised for providing long, soft vegetablefibers. Generally speaking, the methods fall into two groups, i.e.,bactericidal retting and mechanical defibering, or a combination ofthese methods. This invention involves an improvement over the prior artand utilizes a combination of chemical retting and mechanicaldefibering.

The heretofore known methods of acquiring such fibers have, generallyspeaking, been unsatisfactory on practical grounds. Thus, for example,bactericidal retting is not feasible where there is anything but a verylow standard of living due to the fact that it is horribly malodorousand requires long times of treatment. Mechanical defibering has not beenpractical largely due to excessive breakage and loss of fiber. Seriousattempts to produce such fibers on a practical large scale productionline basis have been carried out unsuccessfully heretofore.

The importance of kenaf to the economy of the Western Hemisphere cannotbe overestimated. Kenaf fiber can readily be substituted for jute. As iswell known, enormous quantities of jute are utilized throughout theWestern Hemisphere and jute is almost completely supplied from theFar-East. In view of the enormous use of jute in the formation ofpackaging materials, industrial ropes and cordage and fabrics such asburlap, cutting the Western Hemisphere off from its source of jutewould, without question, seriously cripple the economy of the WesternHemisphere in the absence of the satisfactory method of this inventionfor processing kenaf.

It is, therefore, the broad object of this invention to provideapparatus for providing long, soft vegetable fibers.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus whereby theprocessing of bark containing long, soft vegetable fibers can be greatlyspecded up and satisfaetorily accomplished on a mass production line.

Although, as pointed out above, the apparatus of this invention isapplicable to, for example, kenaf, jute or ramie, it will be describedbelow as applied to kenaf by way of example for the sake of simplicityand it will be understood that the invention is not so limited:

The method carried out by the apparatus in accordance with thisinvention comprises laying up ribbons of kenaf bark, which may be eithergreen or dried, on a conveyor system such that the ribbons are shingled,that is, they overlap the preceding ribbons. Preferably, each row ofribbons will overlap up to all but 4 to 12 inches of the preceding rowof ribbons. The thus laid up stalks are then crushed, if green, toexpress excess juices and then treated with a retting solution. If driedribbons are used, the crushing step is omitted.

The retting solution may be, for example, an aqueous solution containingfrom .25 to 5.0% of a soap which is preferably an alkali metal salt ofan aliphatic straight chain fatty acid of from 6 to 18 carbon atoms. Theaqueous soap solution will have a pH of from about 8.5 to about 13.5,which will preferably be achieved by the use of an excess of thealkaline material used to make the soap, i.e., that is by using, forexample, an excess of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. Ifdesired, from 0.1% to 2.0% of sodium sulfite can be utilized to improvethe color of the kenaf fiber.

Exemplary of satisfactory soaps are sodium or potas sium stearate,sodium or potassium oleate and sodium or potassium palmitate, sodium orpotassium laurate, sodium or potassium caprylate, sodium or potassiumsoap of coconut oil fatty acids or tall oil fatty acids.

The kenaf ribbons will be maintained in the chemical retting solutionfor from about A to about one hour. If desired, during this period,preferably about half way through the retting period, the kenaf ribbonscan be removed from the retting solution, crushed or squeezed and thenagain subjected to the identical or a similar retting solution. 9

After the retting period the kenaf ribbons are removed from the rettingsolution and spread out into substantially a single layer, that is, theoverlapping or shingling is greatly reduced and preferably eliminated.The ribbons are then subjected to a scutching action on opposing sidesof the ribbon, which separates the desired fiber from the unwantedvegetable matter. The thus separated vegetable matter and fiber arewashed with water, squeezed to eliminate the water and dried.

If desired, after subjecting the ribbons to the scutching actiondescribed above, they can be Wetted with the above described rettingsolution and subjected to a second scutching action operation and thenwashed and dried as before.

The apparatus of the invention will be made clear by the followingdescription read in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing apparatus in accordance with thisinvention for carrying out the above described method.

Figure 2A is a side elevation of the initial portion of alternativeapparatus in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2B is a side elevation of the end portion of the alternativeapparatus shown in part in Figure 2A.

Referring to. Figure 1, apparatus 2 in accordance with this inventionhas an endless belt conveyor 4 carried at its upper end by roller 6. Aplurality of rows 8 of kenaf ribbons are shown on endless conveyor 4. Itwill be noted that rows 8 are disposed in an overlapping arrangement.

Adjacent roller 6 are opposed metal surfaced rollers 10 and 12. Roller12 is journalled in support member 14 which also carries a bearinginember16 in which roller 10 is journalled. A stop 18, secured to member14, limits the downward travel of bearing member 16. A coil spring 29urges bearing member 16 downwardly so that roller 10 will exert thedesired pressure. The opposite ends of rollers 10 and 12 are suported inan identical manner and,

therefore, this need not be described or shown. Rollers and 12 aredriven at approximately the same speed by a conventional drive mechanismshown at A. Stop member 18 is set so that roller 10 will have a minimumclearrollers 10 and 12 and that roller 6 is placed as close as possibleto rollers 10 and 12. This arrangement greatly facilitates the transferof the kenaf ribbons from conveyor 4 to the nip of rollers 10 and 12.

Below roller 12 is provided a catch basin 22 with a drain pipe 24 tocarry away any falling liquid matter.

An endless conveyor 30 is carried by rollers 32, 34, 36 and 38, thelinear speed of conveyor 30 being substantially the same as the linearspeed of the rollers 10 and 12. Roller 32 is positioned with its uppersurface lying in a horizontal plane passing below the center of roller12. Further, roller 32 is placed as close to roller 12 as practical.

An endless conveyor 40 is carried by rollers 42, 44, 46 and 48.Conveyors 30 and 40 are positioned so as to engage the kenaf ribbons andcarry them through and out of tank 54 containing retting solution 56.

Adjacent roller 38 are opposed knurled rollers 58 and 60. Roller 60 isjournalled in support member 62, which also slidably carries a bearingmember 64 in which roller 58 is journalled. A stop member 66, secured tosupport member 62, limits the downward travel of bearing member 64. Acoil spring 68 bears against the top of bearing member 64. It will beunderstood that the opposite sides of these rollers are similarlymounted.

It will be noted that the top of roller 38 lies above a horizontal planepassing between rollers 58 and 60 and that roller 38 is placed as closeto rollers 58 and 60 as practical. Spray nozzles 70 direct watertangentially downwardly along the discharge side of roller 58 to preventthe kenaf ribbons from curling up about roller 58.

A drip pan 72 is placed under roller 60 to catch any dripping liquid andis provided with a drain pipe 74.

Knurled lapping rollers 58 and 60 are driven by drive mechanism,indicated at B, at a linear speed substantially faster than the linearspeed of endless conveyors 30 and 40. Further, there is a speeddifferential between rollers 58 and 60 to provide a scutching action.

It is preferred to have the slower of rollers 58 and 60 driven at alinear speed of from 2 to 20 times the linear rate of endless conveyor30, depending on the amount of overlap and length of the ribbons. One ofrollers 58 or 60 will be driven preferably at a linear speed of fromabout 1.2 to about 5 times the speed of the other roller,

it being immaterial which of the two rollers runs at the faster speed.Stop member 66 is set so that roller 58 will have a minimum clearance offrom .003 to .015 inch and spring 68 is selected to provide a force ofabout 100 to about 900 pounds per lineal inch.

An endless perforate conveyor 80 of wire mesh screen is carried byrollers 82 and 84 and over a catch basin 86 having a drain pipe 88.Roller 82 is positioned closely adjacent roller and with its uppersurface lying below a horizontal plane passing through the center ofroller 60.

Downwardly directed sprayheads 90 are supplied with water through pipes92, to which they are connected.

Screen 80 has a linear speed slightly in excess of the speed of thefaster of the rollers 58 or 60, preferably about 10% to about 20%faster.

Rubber squeeze rollers 87 and 87A, driven by driving mechanism indicatedat C, are mounted in support 89, thero1ler87 being carried in a bearing91 forced down- 4 wardly by spring 93, the opposite ends (not shown)being similarly mounted.

An alternative embodiment'is shown in Figure 2A. The apparatus 94 ofFigure 2B simply represents a duplication of units utilized in theembodiment shown in Figure l.

' As shown in Figure 2A, rows 8 of kenaf ribbons are carried by aconveyor 4 and presented to rollers 10 and 12. There then follows thesection of apparatus 2 including from rollers 10 and 12 through conveyor30 and roller 38. Following this mechanism, apparatus 94 is providedwith a second section which is a duplicate of the apparatus betweenrollers 10 and 12 and through roller 38.

Following the second conveyor and roller 38, apparatus 94 has themechanism of Figure 1 extending from rollers 58 and 60 to the end ofendless screen conveyor and catch basin 86, but a retting solution asdescribed above is sprayed in lieu of water.

At the end of catch basin 86 apparatus 94 is provided with a pair ofopposed knurled rollers 96 and 98. Roller 98 is journalled in a supportmember 100, which also slidably carries a bearing member 102 whichsupports roller 96.

Stop 104 limits the downward travel of bearing member 102. Spring 106urges bearing member 102 downwardly. Stop member 104 is preferably setto provide a clearance .003 to .015 inch to rollers 96 and 98 and spring106 preferably provides a downward force of to 1000 pounds per linealinch. The opposite ends (not shown) of rollers 96 and 98 are similarlymounted.

Roller 96 has a linear speed approximately the same as that of thepreceding screen conveyor 80. Roller 96 has a linear speed of from about1.2 to about 5 times the linear speed of roller 98. If desired, therelative speed of rollers 96 and 98 can be reversed with roller 96having a higher linear speed than roller 98. Rollers 96 and 98 provide ascutching action to separate and clean any fibers which were not sotreated by the previous action of rollers 58 and 60. a

Following rollers 96 and 98 apparatus 94 has an endless perforateconveyor 108 formed by transverse slats spaced to provide drainageaction, which is carried by rollers 110 and 112. Sprayheads 114connected to water pipes 116 provide a downwardly directed spray ofwater. A catch basin 118 is located below screen 108.

Conveyor 108 has a linear speed somewhat higher than the linear speed ofroller 98 in order to straighten out the material entrained thereon andparticularly to prevent the fibers from sticking down between the slats.Rubber squeeze rollers 87 and 87A are provided at the discharge end ofconveyor 108.'

In operating the apparatus in accordance with this invention asdisclosed in Figure 1, the green kenaf ribbons are shingled on conveyor4 and passed through rollers 10 and 12, which crush the ribbons. Ifdried kenaf is used, it is permitted to pass freely between theserollers so as to avoid breakage by raising steps 18. The placement ofroller 6 with its upper surface above the nip of rollers 10 and 12provides for a smooth flow of kenaf ribbons from conveyor 4 throughrollers 10 and 12.

The kenaf ribbons are then carried into tank 54 by conveyors 30 and 40.The placement of roller 32 with its upper surface below a horizontalplane passing through the center of roller 12 has been found to greatlyimprove the conveyance of the ribbons. Conveyors 80 and 40 have a linearspeed which will maintain the ribbons in the retting solution in tank 54for from about 10 to about 120 minutes. The ribbons are then conveyed topass between rollers 58 and 60, roller 38 being positioned in a mannersimilar to roller 6 to provide effective transfer of the ribbons fromconveyor 30 to the nip of rollers 58 and 60. Since both rollers 58 and60 have a linear speed higher than that of conveyor 30, the rows ofkenaf ribbons are spread out, preferably sufliciently to form a singlelayer rather than overlapping.

The differential speed between rollers 58 and 60 provides a scutchingaction which separates the usable fibers from the unusable vegetablematter. The separated kenaf material assisted by a water spray fromspray nozzle 7%) passes downwardly onto screen 80. Screen 80 having alinear speed slightly higher than the highest linear speed of eitherrollers 58 or 60, tends to straighten out the fibrous material depositedon the screen and prevents it from sticking down between the wires ofthe screen. Water from sprayheads 90 thoroughly washes the fiber free ofundesired vegetable matter on the screen 89 and the washed product issqueezed by rollers 87 and 87A to eliminate water.

Operation of the apparatus of Figure 2 is obvious from the descriptionof the operation of the apparatus of Figure 1, one difference being thatthe retting operation is divided in half with a crushing and squeezingstep by the second set of rollers 10 and 12 taking place. A furtherditierence is that after the first washing with water the treatedmaterial is subjected to a squeezing and scutching action by rollers 96and 98 and then again washed with Water. In addition, nozzles 92preferably are used to deliver a spray of retting solution as previouslydefined or a simple conventional detergent solution.

This is a division of my copending application Serial No. 426,255, filedApril 28, 1954, now Patent No. 2,925,626.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for treating ribbons of bark containing soft vegetablefibers to separate out the soft vegetable fibers comprising an upwardlyextending conveyor adapted to carry successive parallel ribbons in anoverlapped relationship, a pair of lapping rollers, a retting tankbetween said upwardly extending conveyor and said lapping rollers,conveyor means to carry the ribbons from said first mentioned conveyorthrough said retting tank and to said pair of lapping rollers, means todrive said lapping rollers at a linear speed substantially in excess ofthe linear speed of the second mentioned conveyor means to substantiallyeliminate the overlapping of the retted ribbons and to drive one of saidlapping rollers at a linear speed substantially greater than the linearspeed of the other lapping roller to scutch said retted ribbons, andmeans to wash the fibers discharged from said lapping rollers.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that thewashing means comprises an endless perforate conveyor, the linear speedof said perforate conveyor being greater than the linear speed of thefaster of the said lapping rollers and spray nozzles directed downwardlyat said perforate conveyor.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the lapping rollershave a linear speed ratio of from about 1 to 1.2 to about 1 to 5.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 in which the lapping rollershave a linear speed ratio of from about 1 to 1.2 to about 1 to 5.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that a spraynozzle adjacent the uppermost of said lapping rollers is adapted todirect a spray downwardly adjacent said uppermost lapping roller.

6. Apparatus for treating ribbons of bark containing soft vegetablefibers to separate out the soft vegetable fibers comprising an upwardlyextending conveyor adapted to carry successive parallel ribbons in anoverlapped relationship, a pair of knurled lapping rollers, a rettingtank between said upwardly extending conveyor and said lapping rollers,conveyor means to carry the ribbons from said first mentioned conveyorthrough saidretting tank and to said pair of lapping rollers, means todrive said lapping rollers at a linear speed substantially in excess ofthe linear speed of the second mentioned conveyor means to substantiallyeliminate the overlapping of the retted ribbons and to drive one of saidlapping rollers at a linear speed substantially greater than the linearspeed of the other lapping roller to scutch said retted ribbons, andmeans to wash the fibers discharged from said lapping rollers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 13,412Koch Aug. 7, 1855 535,665 Boyle Mar. 12, 1895 1,277,185 Brown Aug. 27,1918 1,757,349 Von Ehrenthal et al May 6, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 15,656Australia -Dec. 20, 1933 692,739 Germany June 26, 1940

